The Beginning
by insaneantics21
Summary: Before their lives were perfect there were a few bumps in the road. *Puppy-verse #15*
1. Chapter 1

Preceded by:  
Puppy | My Girl(s) | Perfection | Decisions | Baby Love  
Baby Love 2 | Slushies: The Next Generation | Little Gold Stars  
Change | Baby Just Say Yes | (Not Quite) Nine Months  
Double Trouble | Bigger is Better | Miracles

* * *

**--August 1999 - Fall 2010--**  
_Santana and Brittany_

Santana and Brittany's relationship was fairly drama-free in the beginning. Like most of the kids in Lima, they met on their first day of kindergarten. It was nothing spectacular, Brittany drew Santana's name out of a bowl to be her "buddy" for the school year. Santana would later look back on it as a little bit of fate because it seemed as though that every single time either girl had to draw someone's name out at random they always ended up together. Well, she _may have_ cheated the system a few times. But only a few.

The pivotal turn in their relationship didn't come until the summer after their freshman year of high school. They'd both survived their first year of Cheerios and had reluctantly let Quinn into their little bubble. Santana was relieved when the head Cheerio started dating Finn because that meant more time for her and Brittany.

It was the middle of June, the temperature was high for early in the summer and both girls were in their bikinis relaxing on inflatable chairs in Brittany's pool.

"Have you ever kissed anyone, S?" Brittany broke the silence.

"B, you're my best friend, if I had kissed someone I would've told you."

"Oh. I kind of don't want to kiss anyone. I'm afraid I'll be bad at it."

"Is that even possible?"

"I don't know. What if it's like Cheerios and if we practice we'll be good at it? My mom always says that practice makes perfect."

Santana shrugged. An hour later she was half-naked on top of her best friend with her tongue in Brittany's mouth and she could feel the blonde smiling into the sloppy, extremely uncoordinated kisses. By the end of the summer they weren't sloppy and their coordination had improved drastically. Brittany was right, practice made perfect.

Santana wasn't ready to commit and so the deal was settled upon that "sex is not dating". However, after glee club sectionals and all of the baby drama and the brewing relationship drama with Finn and Rachel bouncing from him to that impostor Jesse St. James, Santana was beginning to see the benefits of monogamy. After the extremely awkward "encounter" (she wasn't sure that thirty two-seconds even counted as sex) with Finn, Santana gave up. The boy had spouted something about not feeling anything and the Latina pretended to shrug it off but she knew there was only one person in the world that made her feel something when they slept together.

"I don't want to sleep with anyone else anymore, B," she told Brittany the next day. She had showed up at the blonde's house with a rubber duck and a yellow rose. "I want to like, try being exclusive or whatever. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine."

Brittany shrugged. "I've always been yours, S," the blonde said.

So that was it. The pair transitioned from friends with benefits to full on girlfriends. The only thing that changed was Santana stopped sleeping with other people. It wasn't awkward and they didn't make a list of pros and cons or sit down and seriously think about it. It just happened.

**--September 2010 - May 2012--**  
_Rachel and Quinn_

Rachel and Quinn were not like Brittany and Santana. Rachel was complicated and Quinn hated Rachel. Really, Quinn hated her. Puck could make suggestions about unresolved sexual tension all day long but the truth of the matter was that Quinn honestly did not like Rachel. She wasn't jealous of her, she wasn't harboring secret feelings of love and she wasn't in denial. Rachel irritated the hell out of her. Period.

After sectionals, Quinn found her things packed away neatly in her duffel bag at Finn's house. His mother didn't say a word to her and he just scowled as she called Brittany. The next Monday at school Rachel timidly came up to Quinn and offered her the guest room. Quinn actually laughed.

"You're insane, Berry. I'd kill you in five minutes."

Rachel sighed and nodded and let Quinn know that her offer stood whenever she might need it. Quinn resisted a snotty comment and instead settled for rolling her eyes and walking in the opposite direction. She stayed on Brittany's couch for two weeks and then moved on to Santana's for a few days. Rachel offered the guest room yet again.

"I don't want to have my baby in prison after killing you."

Quinn attempted to reign in Puck and try to get him to entertain the idea of being faithful and she even resorted to moving in with him for a little while. Her second night in his house he brought home some slutty Cheerio and barely gave a glance to the blonde who was sitting on the couch watching TV when he pulled the girl to his room. It was obvious it wasn't the last time that was going to happen. Quinn packed her bags the next day. This time, Rachel demanded that Quinn move in with her.

"You're psychotic. No."

Kurt reluctantly took Quinn in after that but when his dad and Finn's mother started having family dinners and Finn was around quite often, well…awkward wasn't a strong enough word to describe the situation. Quinn went back to Brittany and then again to Santana. Santana's house wouldn't have been so bad if Quinn weren't in her eighth month of pregnancy and her bladder wasn't being used as a pillow by the human inside of her. Sharing a single bathroom with three other people wasn't exactly the ideal situation.

While Quinn was packing and unpacking and living out of a bag and off of other people's charity, Rachel got the one thing she had wanted since he first joined glee club. She started dating Finn and made calendars of their dates and she was really, very happy…until he told her it was over. Rachel was more angry than sad at Finn's lack of confidence and she let him know exactly that. It was only a few days later that Jesse St. James caught her eye and she happily took his offered arm. He was, after all, very talented. And Rachel would know.

One month to the day of her due date and with a three day long back spasm, Quinn picked up the phone. She honestly couldn't believe what she was about to do but she was out of options. She wanted a bed and her own bathroom and only one person could offer that to her. Only one person _had_ offered that to her.

"Rachel Berry, future Tony Award winning actress speaking, how can I help you?" Rachel answered her phone.

Quinn could actually _hear_ the smile. She might have found it just a little bit endearing. Just a little bit.

"Rachel…Rachel, it's Quinn."

"Hello, Quinn! How are you feeling?"

"I…my back hurts a lot. Santana's couch isn't really comfortable."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Would you like the name of Daddy's chiropractor? It's in his rolodex, I can…"

"Rachel, I need somewhere to stay," Quinn blurted out. "I don't have anywhere else to go," she mumbled. "I need your help."

There was an audible gasp from Rachel. "I'll be there in seven minutes."

Exactly seven minutes after Quinn hit 'end call', the Lopez' doorbell rang and on the other side of the door stood Rachel with car keys and a huge smile. She wrestled Quinn's duffel bag out of her hands, insisting the blonde didn't need to be doing any heavy lifting. Quinn finally gave up and let the brunette carry the duffel bag. She didn't regret it because if anything, it was entertaining to watch the short girl try to haul the bag that probably weighed as much as she did to her car and try to lift it into the trunk.

The ride to the Berry house was surprisingly silent. Rachel let Quinn help her carry the duffel bag into the house and up the stairs.

"You have your own bathroom," Rachel said when Quinn dropped her bag on the floor. "It's that door," Rachel gestured to a sliding door next to what Quinn assumed was the closet door. "My bedroom is down the hall, the master suite is across the hall. If…if you decide to stay and you…you keep the baby then I think we still have my baby furniture in storage. We'll find a way to make it fit in here."

"I don't know," Quinn said quietly. She sat down on the bed and jumped a little at the softness. "I don't know what I'll do. Thanks…for this. I'll try really hard to not kill you."

"I'll stay out of your way," Rachel offered. "But if you need anything you know where to find me."

Quinn acclimated to her surroundings rather quickly. If Rachel's dads disagreed with the situation they didn't say anything. Quinn felt and was sure she probably looked as if she could burst into tears at any moment which was probably a contributing factor to the two men never protesting her presence. Her life had completely detoured from where she thought it would be and she was living with Rachel Berry and, God help her, she was starting to find the girl actually tolerable. Eventually she decided that, despite the detour, life wasn't too horrible. It could've been worse, she could still be sleeping on someone's couch.

Baby basics like diapers, toys, wipes, lotions, blankets, bottles, and tiny pink outfits began appearing in Quinn's room on a daily basis almost by magic and all three Berrys had a different story as to how the items came to be.

"They fell off of a truck," Rachel's Dad said as he turned to the next page of the catalog in front of him. The page was filled with red circles around nursery decorations. Quinn eyed the red sharpie on the table next to it.

"I won a drawing at the baby store," Rachel said. She shrugged and flipped to the next page of her book. Quinn shook her head at the title. _The Expectant Father_.

"Fairies," Rachel Daddy said with a huge grin. His eyes darted to his husband and Quinn couldn't help but crack a smile.

A box with a playpen pictured on the side migrated into the Berry's living room.

"It's just in case," Rachel said when Quinn told her and her dads to please stop buying things. "We're not trying to persuade you but we think it's best if you're prepared. If you choose to give her up for adoption then we will pack everything up and give it all to her new parents."

Quinn's water broke at eight in the evening while she and Berrys were enjoying ice cream sundaes and watching re-runs of "The Golden Girls" on TV. Rachel never once left her side through labor and birth. When the brunette was still wincing every time she moved her left hand six hours later one of the nurses made her leave to get x-rays. She returned to Quinn's room with a bright pink cast. If Quinn hadn't been so exhausted she would have apologized profusely but all the blonde wanted to do at that point was sleep and so Rachel sat in the chair next to Quinn's bed and rubbed her back until she finally got some well-deserved rest.

After the ultimatum, argument, and eventual complete disownment by her parents Quinn was left in a daze. When she got home with Allie in her car seat and took her upstairs her room had been re-arranged to accommodate Rachel's old crib and changing table and she recognized the decorations as those that had red circles around them. Quinn cried. She blamed the hormones but she knew it had absolutely nothing to do with them. Rachel hugged her and told her she was their family now and Quinn's daze quickly dissipated and that was when she first started to _maybe_ fall a little bit in love with Rachel Berry.

When Jesse defected and went back to Vocal Adrenaline just days before regionals leaving Rachel heartbroken it was one of the most humiliating moments in the diva's life. Nothing compared to it. The rest of the glee club wasn't shocked but none of them were heartless enough to give Rachel a big "I told you so" and so they left her alone. Rachel, after a twenty-four hour grief period in which she locked herself in her room and didn't answer Quinn begging her to come out, bucked up and was hell bent on not only beating Vocal Adrenaline but letting them know that Rachel Berry didn't get mad, she got even; a complete backfire of what she was sure Jesse had intended to do. No one dared stand in her way. In fact, they generously offered to help.

After their performance at regionals, Vocal Adrenaline retreated to their dressing room to find it packed floor to ceiling with balloons and an inch thick layer of tiny, glittery gold stars on the floor. New Directions received perfect scores from the judges.

Nationals was difficult and they ultimately placed tenth out of fifty choirs, definitely something to be proud of, Mr. Schuester assured them.

The summer was spent with Quinn getting a job at a retail store and trying to force Rachel to take money for babysitting Allie but Rachel was adamant in her refusals. Quinn resorted to occasionally slipping cash into Rachel's wallet or into her pink piggy bank she kept on her dresser.

There was an hour long yelling match when, in November, Rachel opened the bottom of her piggy bank and was met with an almost never-ending string of twenty-dollar bills that she had to fish out and a note in Quinn's handwriting that read:

_"Don't even think about giving it back. Use it for Julliard or something. Thanks for everything :)"_

On top of the small gifts such as outfits and new toys that Quinn was alright with the Berrys getting Allie for Hanukkah, the baby got a state-of-the-art stroller for Christmas. The tag on the box read "From Santa" but Quinn took one look at the gold star on the label and dragged Rachel up to her bedroom and began demanding that Rachel take it back and put that money in her college fund. Rachel grinned and said that, clearly, Santa was generous that year.

It was obvious to Quinn after Allie was born that she had somehow managed to go from hating Rachel, to tolerating her, to considering her a friend, to possibly liking her a little, to definitely liking her. When Rachel wasn't doing one of the million other things that Rachel did, the brunette was playing with Allie and using up the rest of her energy and memory on her video camera on the tiny blonde. Quinn would watch from doorways or the couch as Rachel blew raspberries on the baby's stomach eliciting sweet high-pitched giggles from Allie that Quinn never got tired of hearing. The scenes looked very natural, Quinn noticed. So natural, in fact, that Quinn caught herself a few times daydreaming of tiny brunette babies running around a different house and Rachel chasing after them. This was when Quinn realized that her feelings might've been a little stronger than she thought.

When Santana and Brittany would come over the four teenagers and the baby would spread out on the living room floor and watch Disney classics together. Brittany almost always called baby snuggling rights and Santana always called Brittany snuggling rights which left Rachel and Quinn. Quinn didn't complain and that was her downfall in trying to keep her little crush under wraps.

"Oh my God," Santana whispered when Rachel went to get more popcorn. "You totally have a thing for Berry."

"What?"

Quinn's shriek was loud enough that she, Santana, and Brittany looked toward the kitchen for a few seconds to make sure Rachel was still humming and the popcorn was still popping.

"You make love eyes at her," Brittany said.

"What are you talking about? You're both completely insane."

Brittany grinned. "She makes love eyes at you, too."

Quinn blushed. Santana smirked. Brittany squeaked. Allie babbled incoherently.

"It's disgusting, but she really does," Santana said. "She's been doing it all night. She totally likes you."

"Quinn you should totally-" Brittany's mouth snapped shut when Rachel bounced into the living room with the large bowl of popcorn.

"Quinn should what?" the brunette asked as she dropped down next to the current subject of discussion. "Extra salt," she said with a shy smile, "just like you like it."

"Brittany says I should uh…"

"Sing a solo," Santana cut in. "In glee club. She says Quinn should get more solos."

"I'm sure that can be arranged." Rachel nodded furiously. "I could talk to Mr. Schuester if you desire more solos, Quinn. Your voice is very unique, you know? I believe you'd be very well suited for jazz or something from a catalog of classics."

Quinn, Brittany, and Santana stared at Rachel in disbelief.

"You're actually offering to give someone else a chance to sing?" Santana finally asked. "Did someone knock you on the head?"

Rachel turned red. "N-no. I believe everyone should have an equal opportunity for stardom."

"So say I wanted a solo," Santana smirked, "what would you tell Mr. Schue I'm good at?"

Rachel's mouth opened and closed, very obviously showing she'd never thought about it. Quinn's red matched Rachel's and she grabbed the remote and pressed play for _Finding Nemo_ to start. At some point during the movie the bowl of popcorn had been passed to Brittany and never returned to its spot between Quinn and Rachel. The gap got smaller and Rachel ended up with her head on Quinn's shoulder. The blonde looked over to her two best friends, Santana smirked and Brittany grinned. That was when Quinn knew she was _definitely_ a little bit in love with Rachel Berry.

The night Rachel crawled into her bed sniffling and quietly sobbing about a nightmare and quietly asked Quinn to just hold her for the night, the blonde obliged. It was only two nights after her talk with Brittany and Santana, Quinn was still a little unsure of their observations and idea that Rachel actually liked her. Rachel snuggled into her front and tucked her head under Quinn's chin and wrapped her arm around Quinn's waist.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Quinn whispered once Rachel had settled down.

Rachel shook her head. "No."

"Was it that one where you were about to get Barbra's autograph and she turned into Kanye West and stole your Tony Award?"

Rachel let out a soft giggle. "No. And you promised you wouldn't ever tease me for that."

"What was it, Rach? Tell me, please."

"I can't," Rachel whispered.

"I swear I won't make fun of you."

"That's not what I'm concerned about."

"Then what is it?"

Rachel sniffled and tightened her grip on Quinn's waist. "If I have to tell you then you must promise that you'll keep an open mind."

"I promise."

"I…I dreamed that I lost you. You got angry and you left and took Allie with you and I never saw you again."

Quinn furrowed her eyebrows and pulled away a little. She tilted Rachel's chin up and the brunette chewed on her lower lip.

"Why would I be angry about that, Rachel?"

"Because," Rachel whispered. "Because the reason you left was that I told you something deeply important."

"What did you tell me?"

Quinn felt Rachel grab a fistful of her t-shirt and the girl turned her head and mumbled something into the pillow. Quinn moved closer to try and hear but the words were muffled. She again slipped her fingers under Rachel's chin and pulled her to look up.

"What did you tell me, Rachel?"

"I told you…I told you I was inclined to kiss you."

Quinn blinked a few times. Santana and Brittany had been right.

"I'm sorry," Rachel whimpered. She let go of Quinn's waist and moved to get out of the bed but Quinn caught her wrist and sat up.

"What if…" Quinn took a deep breath. "What if I said I wanted to kiss you, too?"

"Then I would be positively elated." Rachel nodded.

Quinn trailed her fingers up Rachel's arm and settled her hand on the brunette's neck.

"Good, because I really want to."

"Okay," Rachel nodded furiously. "Are we…are we going to now or should I ask you on a date? Proper etiquette requires me…"

And that was when Quinn found out the single most effective way to get Rachel to stop talking.

Allie's first birthday was at the park in order to accommodate all of the guests. Rachel and Quinn had been dancing around the idea of a relationship for a few weeks after the kiss and even more kisses…and a pretty heavy make-out session the night before the party that ended up somewhere around second base before Rachel's Daddy walked in. Brittany and Santana were urging them to "just do it already" but Rachel and Quinn were a little hesitant. Rachel was still dead-set on moving to New York after her senior year and Quinn wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do.

Finn was holding Allie and bouncing her up and down when Rachel approached him with a smile and tickled the tiny blonde's stomach. The young girl lit up and reached for Rachel.

"Ma!"

Rachel's jaw dropped. Quinn was at her side in less than a second.

"Did she just…"

"Quinn, I swear I never…"

When Rachel didn't respond to her, Allie turned to Quinn and stretched her arms out again.

"Mama!"

Every single party guest was silent now, staring at Finn still holding Allie and Rachel and Quinn with their mouths hanging open. Allie grunted and tried to wiggle out of Finn's grip and when Rachel reached for her the baby squealed.

"Ma!"

Rachel held Allie close to her and the baby settled her head on Rachel's shoulder and the brunette turned to Quinn who was still slack-jawed and in utter shock.

"She called you 'Ma'…"

Rachel nodded. "I heard."

"And she called me 'Mama'."

"Maybe 'Ma' will evolve to 'Rachel'?"

...............

The pair did decide to give it a go at an actual relationship after Allie's birthday and things went pretty smoothly for a while. Their first fight was over something so incredibly stupid that neither one of them remembered what it was about by the time they got around to speaking to each other again three days later. Quinn was preparing to go give her white flag of surrender when Rachel appeared in her bedroom doorway.

"Were you planning on going to Noah's Independence Day party this afternoon?" Rachel asked.

Quinn shrugged. "I wasn't planning on it. I'd have to find a babysitter for Allie and since everyone is going I figured I would just stay home."

"I wasn't planning on going, either."

"You should," Quinn said with a smile. "Get out, have some fun."

"I thought maybe my dads could take Allie and we could go to the park and watch the fireworks."

Quinn would have preferred not to watch the fireworks, not because she didn't like them but because she would rather have had her lips on Rachel's. However, because it was Lima they just held hands and watched the colors explode in the air. Quinn stayed in Rachel's room that night and saw her own fireworks. Rachel saw stars.

"I love you," Rachel whispered as she brushed her lips over Quinn's neck.

"I love you, too."

"Ma" evolved to "Mom" by the end of the summer no matter how much Rachel tried to get Allie to say "Rachel" or even "Ray". Quinn finally made the brunette stop trying after Brittany said that maybe Allie was smarter than everyone thought she was.

Quinn picked up applications for NYU and Columbia when the recruiters came to McKinley in October. Her acceptance letter for NYU came in on Allie's second birthday. She put off telling Puck for a week and then finally broke down and invited him over while Rachel's dads took Allie out for ice cream.

"Puck, we're not taking her away from you!" Quinn pleaded when he stood up from the couch and started pacing after she'd dropped the bomb.

"Noah, please! Sit down!"

"No! You're taking her away! I won't let you do it!"

"Puck, we'll be home for every single holiday, I promise."

"That's not good enough!" Puck slammed his fist down on the top of the Berrys' entertainment center. "She's my daughter! I told you I wouldn't be a deadbeat dad and I won't!"

"Noah, Noah you're an excellent father. This isn't punishment."

"Leave her here, then! Leave her with me. You'll be in school, you won't have time for her."

"I'm not leaving her here, Puck." Quinn stood and tried to stop him from pacing but he shrugged away. "I swear to you, she will still be your daughter and you will get to see her. I don't want her growing up here…I just don't. We're supposed to want better for her than what we had, right?"

Puck looked down at the floor and Quinn snapped her fingers.

"Look at me, Puck. You want better for her than Lima, Ohio. You know you do."

Puck reluctantly nodded and ran a hand over his head. "Berry," he growled, "you better take care of them, got it?"

Rachel nodded. "Of course I will, Noah."

Puck bought a new laptop and Rachel showed him how to use the camera so they could video chat and they promised to send pictures every single day.

Rachel's Dad had a cousin and her husband in New York City that always offered Rachel their basement if she ever came to college there. It was a bit tricky convincing them to let Rachel, her girlfriend, and her girlfriend's daughter move in with her but it was done by the time the end of the school year rolled around.

...............

It was two days before graduation, Rachel and Quinn were cuddled in Rachel's bed sleeping heavily when Quinn was roused by the sound of horrendous coughing and wheezing. She looked over at Rachel who was breathing softly and then realized the sound was coming from the baby monitor on her nightstand. She panicked and jumped out of bed and ran to Allie's room and picked up the sweat-soaked and burning up toddler.

"Oh God…"

Quinn quickly turned on the light and rummaged around for the ear thermometer, Allie had started crying and Quinn had to hold her down to get the thermometer to properly take her temperature.

"Quinn?" Rachel asked with a yawn from the door. "What's wrong?"

The thermometer beeped and Quinn almost fainted at the 104 that flashed on the screen.

"We have to go to the hospital."

Quinn cried when they took Allie in for chest x-rays and Rachel held the inconsolable blonde while Puck paced back and forth.

"I thought it was just a cold," Quinn cried. "I gave her cold medicine like I did for the last one…"

"It's fine, sweetie. She'll be fine, okay?"

Allie was in the hospital for an entire week while the doctors pumped her full of antibiotics. Quinn left the room to eat and use the bathroom but that was about it. She missed her graduation ceremony but Rachel's dads made sure to have two video cameras going. Rachel insisted she get to stay at the hospital with her but Quinn threatened to withhold if the brunette didn't go to the ceremony. Rachel sighed and stated that she knew Quinn would never do that but she got the point. Quinn told Puck to go as well and he lied and said he would. He showed up at the hospital that day and refused to leave.

It took what seemed like forever for Allie to fully get over the pneumonia and even longer for Quinn to sleep through the night and not wake up at every sound that came from the baby monitor.


	2. Chapter 2

**--March 2012 - July 2012--**  
_Santana and Brittany_

Santana got her acceptance letter to Northwestern the same day Quinn got hers to NYU. Brittany's parents had some friends in the city that knew a man who ran a dance studio and they were able to get her a full time job teaching there. The pair left for Chicago a week after graduation because Santana was determined to get the hell out of Lima as quickly as possible. It was a tearful goodbye but Santana swore for years after that she had a piece of dust in her eye.

The Latina had already put a deposit down on an apartment that she'd found online and was really impressed with the rental rate but when they got there and saw the space Santana learned the hard way that words could be twisted and that when an ad says the place has a 225 square foot bedroom she should check to make sure that the bedroom is not also the kitchen and living room and doesn't include the bathroom. Unfortunately that's all she and Brittany could afford that was close to anywhere they needed to be.

It was livable even if Brittany's parents did have to take back most of the furniture they had brought in the small U-Haul trailer. They had room for their bed, a small table with two chairs, and a TV on their dresser. There was a stove, refrigerator, and sink in the kitchenette. It looked more like a hotel room than an apartment. Santana did some research on the building and found out that it was actually a hotel at one point. She thought about finding and killing the landlord but decided against it because her goal in life was to become the first Lopez to go to college, not the sixth to go to prison.

**--July 2012 - July 2013--**  
_Rachel and Quinn_

In late July, Rachel and Quinn packed theirs and Allie's bags, boxes, and two beds into a small U-haul trailer attached to Rachel's dads' SUV. They said goodbye to Puck and the remainder of those still in Lima, got in Quinn's car, and left.

Rachel's cousins' basement was fairly spacious, there were two bedrooms and a bathroom and a small living area that was already furnished with a couch and a TV. After they moved everything in they took tours of their respective campuses and worked out a babysitting schedule. Rachel's cousin, Tia, was the self proclaimed "Queen of Charting" and made an Excel spreadsheet of the girls' classes, Allie's schedule, babysitting, free time, and family time. Quinn, and Tia's husband, Dave, were both in the same boat of needing an engineer to decipher the schedule. Actually they needed something better because Dave was in fact an engineer and was still confused.

It took Allie a while to get adjusted to the city. They weren't in an extremely busy part but it was definitely still louder than Lima. The toddler found her way in to Quinn and Rachel's bed almost every night and snuggled between the two of them. It was fine for about a week until one night, when the pair thought Allie might actually stay in her room all night, Quinn was getting ready to round third base and the two year old came sprinting into the bedroom and landed almost on top of the pair. The first thing Rachel did the next day was buy a speaker and make a special playlist on her iPod for Allie to sleep to and had Dave put a lock on their bedroom door.

Both Rachel and Quinn got jobs on their campuses. Lucky for them the majority of their educations were covered by scholarships and Puck sent money every month for Allie from his job he got working at the Pick-n-Save while he figured out what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Most of that went to paying for babysitters. With their incomes both girls wanted to help out Rachel's cousins with groceries and bills and also start saving for when they moved out on their own. Living in New York City was expensive and they would need every penny they could get. Unfortunately, it meant deciding which holiday break to miss in Lima for since they didn't expect a spike in gas prices.

"We have to go for winter break," Rachel said, looking at the pro and con lists they'd made up that were scattered on their living room floor. "And at least a few weeks in the summer."

"What about Thanksgiving and spring break, though?" Quinn sighed. She looked down at how much they'd allowed for travel expenses.

Rachel shrugged. "We have to pick one, we can't do both."

"Thanksgiving is closer."

"Spring break weather is nicer."

Quinn nodded. "And there's not that long between Thanksgiving and winter."

"Noah can take Allie more during spring so we can study for our finals."

"Spring break it is," Quinn said, scribbling down notes on the calendar.

"You should call Noah and tell him. He's not going to be incredibly enthusiastic about this."

"He'll have to get over it, Rach."

Rachel sighed. "Maybe…maybe we should see how she does with him?"

Quinn looked up at Rachel and snapped the pencil in her hand in half. "If you're suggesting…"

"Quinn, I love Allie, you know I love her like she is my own daughter but maybe what Noah said was right. We're both going to school, we both have jobs, I have rehearsals, and we barely get to see each other. It's only been two months and you're exhausted. It wouldn't be a permanent thing it would just-"

"Rachel," Quinn said calmly, clenching her jaw shut and her knuckles turning white from gripping the now broken pencil so hard. "I'm going to ask you to leave the room now. And I would like to sleep alone tonight."

"But Quinn I-"

"I really, really need you to leave."

Rachel nodded and silently stood and headed upstairs. Quinn stared down at the calendar in complete disbelief. She picked up her phone and dialed Santana, the one person she absolutely _knew_ would agree with her.

"What's up New York?" Santana answered. "You get mugged yet?"

"Hey S," Quinn said quietly.

"Oh shit, something's wrong. Let me go get B…"

"No, I need to talk to you. I know you'll agree with me."

"You're fighting with Berry? Duh, I'll agree with you. Spill it."

"She wants me to give Allie to Puck while we're in school."

There was a silence.

"Santana?"

"Okay, Q, let me just ask you something. How much sleep have you gotten this week?"

Quinn sighed. "I don't know."

"Look, I know school is hard. I'm fucking going crazy here with that on top of my job. You have all that plus a kid. You're definitely getting less sleep than I am and I'm not getting shit."

"Santana Lopez if you're telling me that you agree with Rachel I will drive to Chicago and smack you into next week."

"I'm not saying I agree with her, Q. I'm just saying, you're exhausted. And there's a way to fix it."

"Puck wouldn't be able to handle her."

"How do you know that?"

"He went crazy when she wouldn't stop crying!"

"She was a freakin' infant, Q! Now she can at least tell him what she wants and he still lives with his mom, right?"

"I can't believe I'm listening to you. I'm hanging up."

"Just think about it is all I'm sayi-"

Quinn slammed her cell phone down on the floor and settled her forehead on her knees. Before she could even begin to process Santana's betrayal she heard a muffled cry come from Allie's room. Quinn groaned and dragged her feet to the toddler's bedroom. Allie refused to stop crying when Quinn tried to soothe her. The older blonde begged her daughter to tell her what was wrong but all the two-year-old did was cry more and cling to her mother. Quinn lay in the small bed with her for what seemed like hours rubbing her back and singing to her.

When it seemed like Allie had finally settled down, Quinn moved to get up which prompted a fresh round of tears and the older blonde was close to tears of her own. She'd had six hours of sleep combined in the last two days, Rachel was being horrible, her classes were getting harder the closer she got to mid-terms, and Santana abandoned her. For the first time since moving to the city Quinn briefly thought maybe she'd made a horrible mistake and that Rachel and Santana were right.

Quinn heard footsteps and knew who they belonged to when Allie was being pulled away from her and Rachel's soft voice was filling the room.

"I've got sunshine," the brunette sang softly, "on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May."

Quinn curled up into a ball and hugged a pillow tight to her chest. The tears started flowing.

"I guess you say, what could make me feel this way?" There was a pause and Quinn looked up just as Rachel looked down at her. "My girls."

Allie calmed down and stuck her thumb in her mouth and Rachel continued singing and swaying until the toddler was fast asleep. Quinn rolled out of the bed and helped tuck her daughter in. Without a word Rachel wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist and took her to their bedroom, Quinn collapsed in bed and that was all she remembered until she woke up.

It was cold, was the first thing Quinn noticed. Nothing was pressed up against her. Quinn rolled over to see Rachel curled up on the far corner of the bed and she sighed. She rolled back over to look at her clock and panicked. She was two hours later for her shift in the library. Quinn sprang out of bed and didn't bother trying to be quiet as she flung open the closet door and started digging through her clothes.

"Come back to bed," Rachel groaned.

"I'm late for work! Did you shut off my alarm?" Quinn grabbed a dress and a sweater.

"I called in sick for both of us today. Come back to bed."

"Rachel! You can't just do that! We need the money!"

"I can and I did. You need sleep. And no we don't. Bills are paid for the month."

Quinn hesitated a moment before dropping her dress and crawling back into bed. She looked over at Rachel who had closed her eyes again and was breathing softly.

"I'm still mad at you," Quinn sighed, pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Mkay."

"What you said was completely out of line."

"I know," Rachel sighed. "And I'm sorry. I never should have said anything. I'm not her mother, you are. And it's up to you and I will support you no matter what. Get some sleep."

Quinn reached out and grabbed onto the hem of Rachel's shirt and pulled her over to the center of the bed. The brunette curled into her girlfriend and Quinn drifted back to sleep. She woke up alone, the clock indicated she'd slept until almost two and she felt as though she could sleep for another day and a half but the sound of music and giggles coming from the other side of the door coaxed her out of bed. Quinn smiled as she peeked into Allie's bedroom to see Rachel dancing and Allie attempting to mimic her moves. Quinn swallowed hard and tiptoed back to her bedroom, pulled out her phone and pressed 4, then call.

"Hey Baby Mama, how's it going?"

"It's fine, Puck. Listen…we can't be home for Thanksgiving. It's too expensive, we don't have the money for it but I promise I'll make it up to you on winter break. You can take Allie for an entire week if you want."

"I told you you'd do this to me! You're trying to keep her away!"

"No, Puck, please…I swear to you that's not it. We don't have the money and both Rachel and I would honestly like to have the week to just do nothing and not have to worry about going anywhere."

"Fine. But I'm holding you to that week. I'm serious, the whole week. I can handle her."

"I'm sure you can," Quinn whispered. "I…Puck if you…" Quinn trailed off.

"What? If I what?"

"Nothing."

Quinn continued getting very little sleep and by the time winter break rolled around she was sure she was about one step away from pure exhaustion after her finals. She and Rachel took shifts driving back to Lima and they took Allie to Puck's and then went to the Berry house for what they intended to be a nap but both woke up twelve hours later, ate whatever they could find in the kitchen, then went back to bed and slept for another five hours.

They were both startled awake by Quinn's cell phone, it was Santana informing her that they were in town and Brittany was dying to get to see them. The pair hauled themselves out of bed and to the restaurant Brittany had selected. Quinn saw Santana's jaw drop as soon as the pair dropped into their side of the booth.

"You guys look like shit," the Latina said.

"Thanks for that," Rachel mumbled.

The waitress came by and both Rachel and Quinn ordered coffee and their breakfasts. Santana and Brittany were staring at them the entire time.

"What?" Quinn finally snapped. "We're _tired_, okay?"

Santana shook her head. "No you're not, you're exhausted. You look like Sylvester made you run suicides for three days. God, did Rachel hit you or are your dark circles really that bad?"

"Shut up, Santana," Quinn mumbled.

"I do not approve of domestic violence," Rachel said. "To insinuate such a thing is-"

"Got it, Berry. You didn't hit Q. You guys just look like death warmed over."

"Can we please talk about something else?" Quinn sighed and smiled at the waitress who had returned with their coffee. She and Rachel both immediately started sucking it down.

"How's Allie?" Brittany asked excitedly. "Those pictures you sent were so cute!"

"She'd with Puck for the week."

"The _week_?" Santana furrowed her eyebrows.

Quinn nodded. "Since we didn't get to come for Thanksgiving I promised Puck he could take her for a week if he wanted to."

Santana nodded. Quinn knew the Latina could read what she was thinking.

Puck called Quinn every day for that week and Quinn couldn't help but notice how happy he sounded. She let him keep Allie for an eighth day. Then a ninth. Rachel was the one that demanded Allie wake up at her dads' house on Christmas morning like she always had so Christmas Eve afternoon Puck dropped her off. Allie seemed rather unimpressed and cried with Puck left; it took Quinn and Rachel two hours to get her calmed down. Once the toddler was napping on the couch Quinn excused herself to her and Rachel's bedroom and paced the floor.

"Quinn? Quinn what's wrong?" Rachel crossed the floor and put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "You've been up here for half an hour."

"Nothing," Quinn said. "Nothing's wrong." She looked up at Rachel and fake-smiled through her lie. Everything was wrong.

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows. "You're lying to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"I…I'm a horrible mother."

"Wh-what?"

"When Puck had Allie…God, Rachel…I slept through the night and I felt awake in the morning like I could actually function and I had time to do my reading for next semester without worrying about when I was supposed to work and finding Allie a babysitter and you and I had really good not-tired sex!"

Rachel blushed. "I don't understand how that makes you a horrible mother."

"I'm horrible because I want my life to be like that all the time!"

Rachel looked at the ground. "Oh. I…I should help out more."

"Rachel this isn't-"

"No," Rachel cut her off. "I signed up for this, I should be a better parent. I should step up and take more responsibility. I'll find time to do it, I just have to look at the chart and find out where I can take time."

"That's…not the solution I'm thinking about."

Rachel sighed and gently brushed Quinn's hair back from her face. "You're thinking about leaving her with Noah, aren't you?"

"Don't say it like that," Quinn shrugged away from Rachel and dropped to the bed. "I'm thinking about letting her spend more time with her father."

Rachel sat down next to the blonde and softly took her hand. "It's your decision, Quinn."

Quinn felt her head move up and down in a nod and she dug into her pocket for her phone and stared at it.

"I should talk to him about it."

"Quinn you don't have to do this. I'll try to find more time to help you…I know you don't really want this. I was completely out of line to ever suggest it."

"I'm not just thinking about me, Rachel. Puck can spend more time with her and that's what she needs. I'm busy working and doing homework and going to school. I can't give up any of those things. If I could then believe me, I would. I would in a heartbeat. You saw how she was when he dropped her off…he's probably spent more time with her in the last nine days than I have the entire semester."

Before Quinn could flip open her phone Rachel's Dad knocked on the door with a huge smile on his face. "Rachel, Grandpa Berry is here."

Rachel's eyes lit up and she grabbed onto Quinn's hand and tugged her to the door.

"You can call him later, I want you to meet Pop!"

Quinn shrugged and followed along down the stairs and saw Rachel's Daddy sitting on the couch next to a much older version of himself who was holding a very smiley and happy Allie.

"Pop!" Rachel squealed and darted toward the couch. She practically landed on top of the old man and hugged him. "Why didn't you tell me he was going to be here, Daddy!"

"We wanted to surprise you."

Rachel darted back to Quinn who was still standing at the bottom of the staircase and she pulled her to the couch.

"Pop, this is Quinn. Allies mother and," Rachel looked over at the tall blonde with a smile, "the love of my life."

Quinn extended her hand and the old man chuckled and shook it.

"The infamous Quinn Fabray. The way Rachel talked about you I thought you would have levitated down the stairs and turned glasses of water into wine for us."

Quinn blushed. "Pleased to meet you." She put off calling Puck for the rest of the day.

Christmas morning was spent with presents for Allie, more presents for Allie, putting together Allie's presents and then watching her play in the box that her dollhouse came in and completely ignoring the present itself. At one point the toddler curled up inside the box clutching onto a stuffed duck from Brittany and Santana and fell asleep, Rachel and Quinn relaxed against the wall. Rachel's Pop smiled at the pair and handed Rachel one final, thin flat box to open.

"It's for the three of you," he said with a smile.

Rachel opened the box and Quinn furrowed her eyebrows at the singular piece of paper that was inside. The brunette picked it up and unfolded the tri-folded document. Both girls shrieked.

"Pop!"

"Mr. Berry!"

"Oh my God! Pop! What…where…how?"

The old man chuckled. "Oh, my little Rachel-bear. There are many things you don't know. Like the day you were born your grandmother started a savings account for you. Every year she put in a little something and after your fathers told me how hard the both of you were working I thought maybe now would be the time to turn it over to you."

"A little something?" Rachel gasped. "Pop! This account has over ten thousand dollars in it! That's not little!"

"I can do the math, Rachel. I know you're one of several grandchildren on your dad's side but you're our only grandchild. Your grandmother, God rest her soul, wanted to make sure you were taken care of if you ever needed anything and thanks to some smart investments, we always had the money to put away. You need this. It's your money."

Rachel looked from her grandfather to her girlfriend and to the box that Allie was napping in and then back to her girlfriend.

"You're quitting your job," Rachel said.

Quinn could tell by her tone that it wasn't a polite suggestion. It was a demand.

"What?"

"You said if you could quit your job that you would. You're quitting and Allie's coming home with us."

Before Quinn could answer Rachel had leapt up off the floor and wrapped her arms around her Pop's neck and was thanking him profusely. Quinn picked up the piece of paper on the ground and stared down at it.

"Rachel, I can't…this is _your_ money."

Rachel knelt down next to the blonde and kissed her forehead. "Yes, you can. And no it's not. It's ours."

"No…"

"Okay, fine, it's my money. And I choose to spend it in a way that allows you to quit your job so you can focus on more important things."

Quinn looked down at her phone and thought about the fact that Puck was number four on speed-dial and she thought about Rachel's demand and how much free time she would have. She pushed the phone away and pulled Rachel into her and held on tight.

"I want our baby with us," she whispered. "I…I can't leave her here."

Rachel nodded. "I don't think I could have either."

"It was your suggestion."

"Suggesting something and actually having the capacity to do it are two separate things. I couldn't have done it. We would've figured out a way to make it work."

So, at Rachel's insistence, Quinn quit her job when they got back to New York. Rachel still worked at her job in the Julliard library so the account could remain mostly untouched until they absolutely needed it. Quinn was happier because she was able to sleep and spend more time with her daughter and in turn Rachel was happier because Quinn was happier. That and the sex was back to normal.

...............

Rachel had always thought of herself as a good performer. Actually, she thought of herself as a fantastic performer. She'd always excelled at her vocal, dance, and acting classes and was told that if she tried hard enough she would make it. She had the same plan she did when she was five except now on her life storyboard there was a picture of Quinn and Allie glued over the picture of Prince Eric from _The Little Mermaid_.

Rachel's aspiration was always to go to Julliard and upon completion, start auditions to transition into Broadway. It was on the storyboard timeline. The fall musical went smashingly even though she only had a minor role. Still, she had a solo and received a standing ovation from the crowd. She really wasn't nervous about auditions for the spring musical until she stepped out on stage and saw not only the director and his assistants but a man sitting in the audience with a clipboard. She was even more nervous when, after she finished, the man got up and peered over the director's shoulder and the pair whispered for a while before Rachel was dismissed.

On her way out of the building a few hours later Rachel was stopped by the man she saw in the theater. He was smiling.

"Rachel Berry?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes."

"Levi Travers. Do you have some time to kill?"

Rachel found herself sitting across from this man at a Starbucks only a few minutes later. He bought her a coffee and a Danish and pushed a business card across the small table at her.

"My colleagues and I are starting the final stages of work on a new production," Levi started. "Our female lead dropped out and I saw you in the fall musical and showed the tape to the director and he wants you."

Rachel quirked an eyebrow. "How can I be assured you're not a fraud?"

Levi chuckled and sipped his coffee. "Would your director have let me in if I were a fraud? He helped with the rest of the casting."

Convinced, Rachel relaxed a little. She'd heard the director talk about it vaguely with other colleagues, he sounded rather excited and had said the show was already generating a lot of buzz.

"What kind of production? What genre, I mean?" Rachel straightened up her shoulders and sipped her coffee.

"It's a musical, an original. I suppose you could classify it as a romantic drama. Think of it as a modern day _Romeo & Juliet_ without the tragic ending." Levi pulled a thick folder out of his bag and slid it across the table. "There's the script and the music. Everyone we've cast so far have been amateurs and unknowns, that's how we wanted to do it. We're slated for an Off-Broadway premiere in August if everything goes right. Rehearsals start in June, there's a contract in that folder as well for you to look over but don't sign it, it's just a copy for you to look at, nothing official."

Rachel looked down at the folder and picked it up cautiously. "Can I think about it? I'd have to talk to…You see, I have a girlfriend."

"Okay." Levi took another sip of his coffee.

"And she has a daughter."

"What's your point?"

"Assuming all goes well, I would have to drop out of school, wouldn't I?"

Levi chuckled. "Rachel, you don't need Julliard. Even your director said it, you could go out and start auditions right now. Give me a call with your decision." He hopped off his stool and left the coffee shop.

Rachel pulled the thick script out of the folder and started reading.

"Rachel!" Quinn shrieked when the brunette got home. "Where have you been? You were supposed to be home two hours ago, I tried calling and you never answered!"

Rachel was still rather stunned. She hadn't let go of the business card in her hand and the thick folder was tucked into her backpack. She glanced up at Quinn and swallowed hard.

"I…I got asked to do a show."

"What?"

Rachel led Quinn downstairs and they sat on the couch as the brunette spilled out the story of her afternoon and dug the script out of her bag and let Quinn thumb through it. Rachel sat in silence and stared at the floor.

"What do you want to do, Rach?" Quinn asked, putting the script down on the coffee table. "It's your decision."

"The salary is a significant increase compared to what I'm making right now. However, the rehearsals will be grueling, I won't have much time for you or Allie for a little while…but once it starts I would only be working nights. I could keep Allie during the days. I fear that if the production doesn't last, though, that I'll be stuck without a source of income."

"We still have most of the money your grandfather gave us. If you did get stuck then we would be fine for a while until we figured out what else to do. Rachel, if you want this then you know I will support you."

Rachel nodded. "I do…I want this." She looked up at Quinn and smiled. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Quinn. I may never get another chance."

"Then do it, Rachel. Sweetie, you've done amazing things for Allie and me and you've never asked for anything in return. This is what you want to do and I want you to do it. It's about you now."

Rachel nodded. "I'm going to do it."

Rachel stayed with an on-campus job until the rehearsals started and then, with shaking hands, she dropped off her forms to drop out of Julliard and quit her job and she signed the offered contract that Levi passed to her across a conference table. Rachel Berry was officially working on a potential Broadway show.


	3. Chapter 3

**--August 2012 - May 2014--**  
_Santana and Brittany_

The first year in Chicago was good for Brittany and Santana. Santana came out of the school year with a 3.99 GPA and Brittany was in love with teaching dance to her young students. They went to Lima for a few weeks early in the summer because that's when Rachel, Quinn, and Allie planned on being there. They were both happy for Rachel signing onto the show and Santana boasted that her GPA was higher than Quinn's and the blonde just shrugged her off citing that she had a daughter and her course load was more than Santana's because she was going to try and finish school in three years instead of four.

Santana, Brittany, and Rachel took Allie to the park a few afternoons when Puck had to work and Quinn needed to get something done for her online classes. The shorter brunette droned on and on about the show she was starting and how she felt honored to be in the lead. Santana felt like she was going to pull her hair out but Brittany looked genuinely interested in the musical so the Latina gritted her teeth and smiled through it.

When the pair got back to Chicago and their tiny apartment Santana started working as much as she could at a second job so she could hopefully save up and not have to work as much during the school year. Brittany didn't complain but the Latina did see the look in the blonde's eyes that told her she was missed. Santana missed Brittany, too, but she was sure that it would pay off in the end and they'd get to spend more time together.

"B, I picked up an extra shift tonight so I'll be home late, okay?"

Brittany whined.

"Hey, why don't you go out while I work tonight, hm? See if some of the other teachers want to go out or something."

Brittany shrugged. "I guess. It won't be as fun, though."

"I'm sure you'll have a great time." Santana smiled and kissed the blonde's forehead.

The Latina finally got out of her shift waiting tables an hour late and she stumbled into the apartment around midnight. Brittany wasn't home yet and Santana furrowed her eyebrows. She picked up her cell phone and dialed her number and it rang several times before Brittany's voicemail came on. Santana shrugged, it wasn't like Brittany had never stayed out late with the other teachers before. Santana changed into her pajamas and settled into bed. She was awoken from a deep sleep by the apartment door rattling and finally opening.

"B?" Santana yawned. "Babe, what time is it?"

"I don't know," came a weak response.

"Mmm, come to bed."

"S…I…something happened."

Santana sat bolt upright and stared into the darkness. She got out of bed and fumbled for the light switch. Brittany was disheveled, her makeup smeared and her hair a mess.

"What happened? B did someone hurt you?" Santana cupped the blonde's face and pushed her hair back looking for any sign of bruising.

Brittany shook her head and dropped to sit on the edge of the bed. "No."

"What's wrong?" Santana joined her girlfriend and put a hand on Brittany's shoulder. "B, just tell me what happened."

Brittany started sobbing and Santana pulled her in. The blonde wrapped her arms around the Latina's shoulders and buried her face into Santana's shoulder. Santana stroked Brittany's hair and tried to soothe the seemingly inconsolable blonde.

"B…babe, come on. Tell me what happened."

"I…I slept with someone," Brittany finally choked out.

Santana froze. "What?"

"This guy…he was there and he bought me drinks. And he took me to his apartment and…"

Santana stood up and dropped to her knees by the bed. She pulled out Brittany's bright pink duffel bag and took it to the dresser. She began emptying the contents of the drawers into it; her heart was pounding so loud she couldn't hear Brittany's pleas for her to stop. Once the drawers were empty Santana moved to the bathroom and pulled out Brittany's drawer and dumped the contents into the bag.

"San…I didn't mean to! I was drunk and…and I'm so sorry! Please, I want to talk! Please!" Brittany tried to pull her into an embrace but Santana shrugged away.

"Get the fuck out. Just get out!" Santana zipped up the bag and threw it on the bed.

"No…no we can fix it! I'll fix it! Just tell me how, please!" Brittany begged.

"You want to talk? Fine. Let's talk. Let's talk about how I've been working my _ass_ off so that we can live close to your studio and not have to eat fucking ramen noodles all the time. Let's talk about how I've taken care of you every fucking day since we moved here and I've never once even thought about anyone else, B. I know I fucked up in high school but you knew early on that it was just sex. You _knew_ that. Don't play the dumb card and say you didn't. When I told you I wanted it to be just us that was it. I never thought about anyone else. You broke it, Brittany. You broke _everything_."

"I didn't mean to," Brittany whimpered. "Please…I can fix it."

"Get the fuck out of my apartment."

Santana grabbed the bright pink duffel bag and opened the apartment door. She tossed the bag into the hallway and stood with her arms crossed over her chest and tried to be stoic as she watched Brittany sob a few more times and then drag her feet out the door and leave. The Latina slammed the door behind her and dropped to the floor and cried.

The Latina made excuses when Quinn or Rachel called as to why Brittany wasn't there and all signs said that Brittany was doing the same because neither Quinn nor Rachel asked what was going on. A month went by, Brittany called and texted every single day. Santana's school year began and she threw herself into her classes and into her job and kept her second job just so she could make ends meet. She found an envelope that had been slid underneath the apartment door with a check in it bearing Brittany's signature that had "my part of rent" written on the "memo" line and with it a small piece of paper.

_"I still want to fix it. Please?  
I'm living at the studio if you want to talk.  
Love always,  
B"_

Santana tore up the check and crumpled up the paper and tossed them both in the trash. Brittany's mail stopped coming to the apartment after that and the Latina didn't get as many texts or phone calls. Santana pretended not to notice. Another month went by and another envelope appeared with another check and another note.

"_Please take it this time. I know you're still working a lot and I want to help.  
I still want to fix it. Pretty please?  
Love always,  
B_"

Santana again tore up the check and crumpled up the note and went to work. Three days later she was cleaning empty tables and she spotted a tall blonde step into the restaurant. Brittany looked tired, her eyes didn't sparkle and she barely whispered when the hostess asked to seat her. Santana's feet carried her up to the blonde and she nudged the hostess away.

"What do you want? I'm busy." Santana crossed her arms over her chest and made sure her glare was as cold as it could be.

Brittany's eyes darted around the empty restaurant and she sniffled. "I want to fix it."

"I don't have time for this right now." Santana turned to walk away but Brittany caught her shoulder.

"Please," she whispered. "Pretty please? Can we just talk? That's all I want."

Santana sighed. "Fine." She took off her apron and led Brittany to the break room. They huddled at a table in the corner and Santana raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"I'm sorry," Brittany said. "I'm so, so sorry and I promise I won't ever do it again. I want to come back home, I don't like living at the studio. I was stupid and I'm sorry. I love you, S. I don't know what to do without you."

"Brittany, you cheated on me. I don't think you get it."

"I do! I do get it! Remember all those times you slept with all those guys? It hurt me, okay? I never told you it did because you were always saying that sex didn't mean anything but it always meant something to me. I always loved you."

"You knew how it was gonna be."

"I know I did but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. I know I'm not book smart like you and Quinn…but I know that it sucks to get hurt and I'm sorry I hurt you and I don't ever want to do it again."

Brittany buried her face in her hands and sniffled again. Santana sighed.

"Brittany…why did you do it? Why'd you go home with him?"

"I don't know…he bought me a lot of drinks and he was really nice and he told me I was pretty."

"And you didn't think about me at all?"

"I did…because he said all the things you used to say to me. You always told me I was pretty and that you wanted me and then you stopped. We…we didn't do anything for a while and I thought you didn't want me anymore. Then you didn't even want to talk to me and you just threw me out but I didn't want to give up…I love you too much."

"So you cheated on me because I was exhausted? Brittany, I was working a lot, that didn't mean I didn't want you. I thought you knew I was tired."

"You never talked to me. I'm not…that thing…I can't read your brain."

Santana stared down at the table and threaded her fingers through her hair. "I thought you understood, B. I-I'm sorry…I should've told you."

"I still want to fix it," Brittany sighed. "But if you don't want to…I guess I'll go back to Lima."

Santana shook her head. "Don't leave," she finally whispered.

"Santana!" One of the Latina's co-workers called to her from the door. "Dinner rush is about to come in, you gotta get out here."

Santana looked up and her gaze met Brittany's hopeful eyes.

"Do you still have your key?"

Brittany nodded.

"If…if you want…we can talk after my shift."

Brittany nodded again, this time with a smile and tears in her eyes. "Okay."

"I'll see you tonight."

Santana stood and grabbed her apron and led Brittany out. The blonde leaned in for a kiss and Santana shied away.

"I want to talk first, okay?"

Brittany sniffled and nodded yet again. "I'll see you later."

Santana did her best to keep focused on her work that night and when her shift was over she hung back in the break room for a while and took a few deep breaths before she headed home. When she opened the apartment door Brittany was standing there with a yellow rose and a smile. Santana gave a weak smile and went to sit down at their small table, Brittany followed obediently and put the yellow rose down in front of the Latina.

"You didn't tell Rachel and Quinn," Santana pointed out.

Brittany shook her head. "I wanted to fix it and I know they would have tried to fix it for me."

Santana nodded. "I get it."

"One of the other teachers took me to the doctor after it happened. I didn't get pregnant or anything but they did tests and they said I should do more later to make sure I didn't get sick or whatever but they said I'm not sick now."

"That's good. I'm glad you did that. Listen, Brittany-"

"I love you, S. I-I don't know what to do to fix it but whatever you want me to do, I'll do it."

"I love you too, B," Santana whispered.

"Can I fix it? Will you let me fix it?"

Santana swallowed hard and nodded. "We'll fix it, B. I promise I'll talk to you more, okay? I won't throw you out like that again."

"I promise I'll never do it again. Never, ever, ever."

Santana slid her arm across the table and took Brittany's hand. The feeling of her digits entwining with the blonde's was familiar and comfortable and absolutely _right_.

It wasn't easy. It's not that Santana was paranoid or anything but every time they got into even the smallest fight after that, Brittany would wind up in tears and beg Santana not to throw her out. It got frustrating and Santana had to remember to keep her temper in check to try and calm the blonde down. By the end of Santana's sophomore year things were back to normal and Santana had surprised Brittany at Valentine's day with a pair of rings.

**--August 2013 - July 2016--**  
_Rachel and Quinn (with an appearance by Brittany and Santana, and Puck and Anna)_

Rachel's hours were grueling for the rehearsals for the play but both she and Quinn knew it would be worth it in the end. All day before opening night, Rachel was a nervous wreck. She paced around the house with her script mumbling her lines and singing scales. Quinn didn't dare get in her way. Instead the blonde picked out her outfit for the night and made sure she had her ticket in her purse and ready to go.

"I'm going," Rachel said softly from the bedroom door that afternoon. "You'll be there, right?"

Quinn smiled up from going through her jewelry box and skipped over to her girlfriend with a huge smile.

"I'll be there, front row. And you're going to do magnificent." Quinn kissed Rachel's forehead and the brunette nodded.

"I'm really nervous."

"Rach, you'll be fine."

"Maybe you shouldn't come. Opening night is always…"

Quinn silenced Rachel with a kiss and the brunette relaxed a little.

"I will be there," Quinn whispered. "Front and center for my sweetheart's big debut."

Rachel blushed. "I should go."

"I love you. Break a leg." Quinn smiled.

"Love you, too."

Three hours later Quinn was waiting in the lobby of the very small theater. She could barely move because it was so packed. The doors finally opened and she was ushered to her seat, literally front row center. She looked around behind her and the theater was slowly filling up and by the time the house lights went down it was completely packed.

The first time Rachel stepped out on stage Quinn felt herself grin like she never had before. Rachel never faltered, never missed a cue, and never missed a note. It was perfect, just like Quinn knew it would be. The blonde had helped Rachel run lines and listened to her practice but seeing it on stage was very, very different. By the end if the show everyone was on their feet and Quinn could see Rachel glance down at her and grin.

Quinn quickly made her way back stage to the dressing rooms and snuck up behind Rachel who was chatting animatedly with one of her co-stars. The blonde pounced on her from behind and Rachel squealed. She whipped around and immediately threw her arms around the blonde.

"There wasn't an empty seat in the house," Quinn said. "Completely sold out."

"I saw!" Rachel jumped a few times. "I can't believe this!"

"Believe it, babe, the show is good. And that's not biased just because I'm sleeping with the star." Quinn winked and Rachel chuckled. "And speaking of sleeping with the star, any idea what time you'll get home?"

"We're having a meeting in a few minutes. You'll know when I'm there, though."

Quinn 's show sold out week after week after week. Quinn heard other students on campus talking about it and people mentioning it in the grocery store. When they went home for Thanksgiving they brought a DVD with them and had a viewing party. Even Puck agreed that it was "kind of awesome".

...............

Christmas was hard that year, Rachel got a phone call from her dads the day before they were scheduled to leave that her Pop Berry had a heart attack and her dads were going down to Florida to see him. Rachel spent hours online trying to get plane tickets but ultimately came up with nothing. She and Quinn drove to Lima and gave Allie to Puck, stayed the night, and then drove down to Florida the next day, taking shifts so they didn't have to stop for the night. They got to the hospital room just as Rachel's dads were being ushered out by a nurse.

"He's gone, sweetie," Rachel's Dad whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Rachel's Daddy was silent and attempting to look stoic but Quinn saw the immense pain behind his eyes now that both of his parents were gone. She couldn't help but relate to him. Rachel stood in shock and Quinn stepped around her to hug Rachel's Daddy.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered into his chest when his strong arms wrapped around her. He kissed the top of her head and she heard him sniffle.

They spent the next few days in and out of law offices and banks and trying to get things at Pop's assisted living home packed up to donate to the other residents as he had indicated he wanted. The funeral was small, Rachel's Daddy seemed to want to stay near Quinn as much as possible. She knew he felt the connection, too.

During their last night in Florida, Rachel and Quinn settled into their hotel room bed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling. Christmas had passed and was completely forgotten. Puck had sent video to Quinn's phone of Allie opening her presents and both Rachel and Quinn cried at missing it.

"I don't know what to do with the money," Rachel whispered. "I feel bad getting it because the only reason I have it now is because he's gone."

"He wanted you to have it."

"It's a lot of money, Quinn. Not even Daddy knew that he had all of it. I thought about giving it to a socially conscious charity but the will already apportioned some of the estate for that."

"Why don't you just leave it alone for now? See what happens in a few years."

The drive back to Lima was slower than the drive to Florida. When they got there they were met with big hugs from Allie and condolences from Puck, and Brittany and Santana who had been helping him out.

"So like, I know you guys had a long drive and stuff," Puck said when Rachel and Quinn dropped to the couch in his living room. "But I wanted to talk to you about something."

Rachel perked up and straightened her shoulders, Quinn nodded.

"I don't want to work at the Pick-n-Save forever so I was thinking about it and I know what I want to do." He pulled a brochure out of his pocket and handed it to Quinn. "There's a police academy down in Columbus, I'm thinkin' that maybe I'll go there."

Quinn raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "You want to be a cop? Puck, you sold pot cupcakes in high school. You stole baby books! You want to be a cop?"

"I know I screwed up then but I think it'd be pretty badass. I'd totally be good at it, I know how to bust underage kids. I gotta be 21 to go so I have to wait another year but I figure I can keep working and save up for it and a place to live while I'm there."

"I'm very proud of you, Noah," Rachel said with a smile.

...............

The next year flew by. Rachel's show was doing extremely well and things just seemed to get easier. Quinn graduated a year early as planned, class of 2015, and she and Rachel decided to use some of money that Rachel had been left to lease their own two bedroom apartment. Rachel's show went on hiatus for a month so the producers could find a bigger venue and do a little more advertising and she spent it helping Quinn secure a job at the school Allie was enrolled in kindergarten for and organizing their new home. They went to Lima for two weeks and helped Puck move into his apartment in Columbus so he could start the police training program in August.

"There's a lot of chicks in this building," Puck smirked when a woman walked by his open door.

"Puck, you're a pig."

"Chick cops are hot."

"I really hope that's not the only reason you're doing this."

"Nah, don't worry about it Baby Mama. I'm doin' it for the kid. I don't want her going to career day saying her old man works at fuckin' Pick-n-Save. I have to bus tables while I go through training but whatever, in a few months she'll be able to tell everyone I'm a badass cop."

Quinn sighed. "You really need to watch your language."

"She's not even in the room."

"Momma! I heard Daddy say a bad word!" Allie shouted from the kitchen.

Quinn raised her eyebrows. "Told you."

"Kid's got supersonic hearing or something," Puck mumbled.

..........

Rachel and Quinn both held back tears as they walked Allie to her kindergarten classroom. Each of them had cried when they went school supply and clothes shopping, the night before, and again early that morning before they took Allie to school.

Rachel knelt down and fixed the girl's white shirt and pink argyle sweater vest that Quinn had argued against but Allie demanded she get when they had gone shopping for school clothes. Rachel proudly helped pick out the matching pink skirt and picked up white tights and shiny black shoes. Allie's hair was up in a high curly ponytail, as per her request, and she gave her mothers a final hug before she turned and took a dramatic deep breath. After Allie confidently walked into the classroom the teacher waved at Rachel and Quinn and the pair stood in the doorway.

"You need to get to your classroom," Rachel said.

"Uh-huh."

Neither one moved. They watched Allie put her backpack and purple lunchbox in its designated cubbie and take her pencils, paper, and art box to the desk with her name on it. Quinn sniffled.

"Stop, you're going to make me cry again!" Rachel hissed.

Quinn nodded. Allie cautiously approached a girl who was staring at the goldfish swimming around in its tank in the back. The young blonde extended her hand.

"I'm Allison Violet Fabray but everyone calls me Allie."

The young girl looked down at Allie's hand and carefully took it.

"I'm Daisy."

"I like that flower." Allie grinned.

"Me too. My daddy named me it 'cause he said I was made 'cause he gived my mommy some daisies and she liked 'em."

"Oh no…" Quinn mumbled.

"My momma just liked my name." Allie shrugged. "My daddy lives in Ohio but I got a mom and a momma here. My mom is a singer and she's gonna win lots of awards and stuff."

The other young girl smiled and squealed. "My cousin David has a dad and a daddy!"

"So does my mom!"

Quinn sighed and pulled away from the door with a smile. "I think we're good here."

Rachel nodded and escorted the blonde to her third grade classroom where a few students were already putting their things away. They hugged before Rachel left and wished the blonde good luck. The brunette had no idea what to do with herself for the rest of the day since she had the day off.

Rachel and Quinn decided not to go to Lima for Thanksgiving because Puck told them he would be out of town and Rachel's dads decided to take a cruise. When the trio went home for Christmas, Puck had informed them that he had a surprise for them. Their first stop was to the Berry house to drop off their things and then to the Puckerman house where Puck said he was staying for Christmas break so they didn't have to drive to Columbus. Rachel and Quinn were both nervous because for all they knew, Puck's surprise was a gift to entice them into a threesome. He answered the door with a huge smile and immediately picked up Allie and swung her around.

"Come on," he said. "I got somebody I want you to meet."

Rachel and Quinn arched their eyebrows and followed Puck into the kitchen. His sister was at the table and Allie ran to her and hopped up on her lap. Puck's mother was standing at the stove with another brunette right next to her. Puck slipped an arm around the other woman's waist and tugged her around.

"Babe, they're here," he whispered to her.

The young woman turned around and with a bright smile she extended her hand to Rachel and Quinn. Quinn shook it first, then the shorter brunette.

"Guys, this is Anna. She's a senior at OSU and…she's kinda my fiancée."

Quinn's jaw dropped. Rachel shrieked.

"When did this happen!" the blonde gasped. "You never said anything!"

"I told you, I wanted to surprise you. We met a few weeks after you guys left and I was with her family in Cleveland for Thanksgiving and that's when I asked her to marry me."

"We met because he was doing a ride-along with an officer and I got pulled over."

"Forty-three in a thirty-five," Puck said with a smirk. "I wrote my number on the ticket."

"I thought he was kind of cute and so I called him."

Puck walked over to the kitchen table and picked up Allie and settled her on his hip.

"Hey Al, this is Anna. You wanna say hi?"

Allie thrust out her hand. "I'm Allison Violet Fabray but everybody calls me Allie."

"It's wonderful to meet you, Allie. I've heard a lot of good things about you."

"Are you my Daddy's friend?"

"Well," the brunette smiled nervously. "I'm his fiancée, do you know what that means?"

Allie shook her head.

"It means we're going to get married, if that's alright with you of course."

"Like a wedding?"

"Yes, next summer."

"Can I be in it?"

"Of course, you get to be the flower girl. It's a very important job!"

"Can I wear pink?"

"You sure can."

"Okay!"

Over dinner Anna told how she was majoring in business and once she and Puck graduated they would be moving back to Lima if Puck got a job with their police department and Anna was interested in selling real estate. She was excellent with Allie and the young blonde seemed to immediately take to her which both Rachel and Quinn agreed was a good sign.

Both Rachel and Quinn were still absolutely stunned when they returned to the Berry house after dinner. They sat with Rachel's dads in the living room and told them the news. Both men were equally stunned.

"I like her," Rachel said. "She's got a college education, she has plans for after school. She's very solid and grounded and exactly what Noah needs and she was very good with Allie."

Quinn shook her head. "I just still can't freakin' believe it."

Brittany and Santana were just as shocked when they found out the next day. Them, Quinn, Rachel, Allie, Puck, and Anna met at a diner for lunch and hot chocolate, Santana and Brittany mostly sat there with their mouths hung open while Puck was sweet and a complete gentleman.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into?" Santana finally asked.

"Santana!" Rachel squeaked. "That was inappropriate."

"What? It's Puck!"

"Dude, I'm right here."

Anna smiled a little and slipped her hand into Puck's. "Noah has told me about his history but he's been nothing but a sweet gentleman to me since our first date."

Puck smiled and kissed his fiancée's forehead and Santana shook her head a little.

The discussion was discontinued when Rachel's phone rang, since she was sandwiched in between Quinn and Brittany in the booth she apologized and then answered it. There was a silence followed by a few yeses and a "that sounds wonderful". When Rachel hung up the phone she was shaking as she dropped it on the table and blinked a few times.

"Rachel?" Quinn asked softly. "What was that?"

"The producers," Rachel squeaked. She was still trembling.

"Okay…"

"Th-the show just got picked up for Broadway starting in June. He said something about some investor and record ticket sales or something…I don't really remember…"

"You…you're going to be on Broadway?" Quinn repeated to clarify. "Your show?"

Rachel nodded slowly and took a sip of water. "My show."

Puck reached over and covered Allie's ears. "Holy shit."

Rachel nodded again. "I'm trying very, very hard not to scream right now," the brunette said calmly.

"You owe me ten dollars," Brittany said as she poked Santana's shoulder.

Rachel arched her eyebrow.

"In high school, like before glee club and all that stuff, you always said you'd be a star and Santana said you were um…what'd you say she was?"

"Delusional," Santana mumbled.

"Yeah, that. Anyways, I bet her ten dollars you would be a star."

Rachel let out an offended squeak.

"Don't look so offended, Berry," Santana said. "It was like freshman year or whatever."

Rachel nodded and Quinn slipped her arm around the brunette's shoulders and kissed her cheek.

"I cannot wait to celebrate this," Quinn murmured into Rachel's ear.

Quinn sat front row center the next June and watched Rachel take the stage in a sold out theater. She met the star immediately afterward with a deep kiss that Rachel returned with enthusiasm, silently thanking the blonde for the dozen pink roses she'd sent.

They met Brittany and Santana in Lima later that month for Puck and Anna's wedding where Allie was the flower girl in her puffy pink dress. Quinn stayed the week after with Allie at Rachel's dads while the brunette flew back to the city to do her show. When Puck and Anna came back from their honeymoon Quinn helped them move into the house they had decided to buy.

With tears in her eyes the blonde said goodbye to Allie, leaving her to spend her first summer in Lima, and Quinn drove back to New York City. Ten hours by herself gave her plenty of time to think.

Santana and Brittany drove in the opposite direction back to their tiny apartment in Chicago. Their pinkies were linked the entire way. Each of them knew what the other was thinking.

Rachel let out a content sigh when she closed her phone after Quinn had called her that she was starting the drive back to New York. The brunette smiled at the picture stuck to her dressing room mirror of Quinn and Allie just after the little girl was born.

Their beginnings had been unusual, at best. The road had no doubt been a little rocky for all of them to get established and prepared for the future but the two couples were definitely eager to spend the rest of their lives together. They all figured that if the beginning was any indication, it was going to be a hell of a good ride.


End file.
